What should I feed them? I'm catching about 10-20 wild Gambusa minnows and raising them in a 30g tub thats in my backyard. It is cycling right now full of plants, I'm debating on adding rocks. So far there will be ants,mosquitos and their larvae and maybe some flies that fall into the pond will be food. I was thinking flake foods? I really dont know.
Gambusa Minnows
Started by
Guest_fishkeeper1_*
, May 24 2010 05:07 PM
8 replies to this topic
#4 Guest_Drew_*
Posted 25 May 2010 - 07:57 AM
What is your intended purpose? I did this a few years ago and started with just 2 pairs. I only fed them initially because the tub wasn't setup in advance but after which they ate whatever ended up in the tub with them. There were a lot of fish by the end of summer starting with just the 2 pairs so starting with 10-20 would be overkill unless you are raising them for food.
#8 Guest_gzeiger_*
Posted 04 September 2010 - 04:36 PM
If there are plants in there in advance I definitely don't think you need to feed them. A small handful of dog food periodically will do just as well as expensive flakes for these. Pond snails are a good addition too. They seem to eat the eggs and/or young. 20 adults may be near the carrying capacity of a tank that size. The limit isn't food or water quality with these as much as the tendency of adults toward cannibalism. The fry won't be able to find enough hiding places in a pond that size. I'd grab just 2-3 fat females to start. They will already be pregnant and will often drop fry within a day or two of being moved to a less crowded environment, and the fry will grow faster and with a much higher survival rate with fewer adults present.
I don't know what your yard is like or what competing priorities are, but you can get much larger ponds pretty cheap. Kids wading pools can be 75-300 gallons in the $10-15 range. They are a bit unsightly though.
I don't know what your yard is like or what competing priorities are, but you can get much larger ponds pretty cheap. Kids wading pools can be 75-300 gallons in the $10-15 range. They are a bit unsightly though.
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